No Arabic abstract
Coupled nanomechanical resonators are interesting for both fundamental studies and practical applications as they offer rich and tunable oscillation dynamics. At present, the mechanical coupling in such systems is often mediated by a fixed geometry, such as a joint clamping point of the resonators or a displacement-dependent force. Here we show a graphene-integrated electromechanical system consisting of two physically separated mechanical resonators -- a comb-drive actuator and a suspended silicon beam -- that are tunably coupled by a graphene membrane. The graphene membrane, moreover, provides a sensitive electrical read-out for the two resonating systems silicon structures showing 16 different modes in the frequency range from 0.4~to 24~MHz. In addition, by pulling on the graphene membrane with an electrostatic potential applied to one of the silicon resonators, we control the mechanical coupling, quantified by the $g$-factor, from 20 kHz to 100 kHz. Our results pave the way for coupled nanoelectromechanical systems requiring controllable mechanically coupled resonators.
We present a microelectromechanical system, in which a silicon beam is attached to a comb-drive actuator, that is used to tune the tension in the silicon beam, and thus its resonance frequency. By measuring the resonance frequencies of the system, we show that the comb-drive actuator and the silicon beam behave as two strongly coupled resonators. Interestingly, the effective coupling rate (~ 1.5 MHz) is tunable with the comb-drive actuator (+10%) as well as with a side-gate (-10%) placed close to the silicon beam. In contrast, the effective spring constant of the system is insensitive to either of them and changes only by $pm$ 0.5%. Finally, we show that the comb-drive actuator can be used to switch between different coupling rates with a frequency of at least 10 kHz.
Graphene is an attractive material for nanomechanical devices because it allows for exceptional properties, such as high frequencies and quality factors, and low mass. An outstanding challenge, however, has been to obtain large coupling between the motion and external systems for efficient readout and manipulation. Here, we report on a novel approach, in which we capacitively couple a high-Q graphene mechanical resonator ($Q sim 10^5$) to a superconducting microwave cavity. The initial devices exhibit a large single-photon coupling of $sim 10$ Hz. Remarkably, we can electrostatically change the graphene equilibrium position and thereby tune the single photon coupling, the mechanical resonance frequency and the sign and magnitude of the observed Duffing nonlinearity. The strong tunability opens up new possibilities, such as the tuning of the optomechanical coupling strength on a time scale faster than the inverse of the cavity linewidth. With realistic improvements, it should be possible to enter the regime of quantum optomechanics.
Here, we demonstrate the fabrication of single-layer MoS2 mechanical resonators. The fabricated resonators have fundamental resonance frequencies in the order of 10 MHz to 30 MHz (depending on their geometry) and their quality factor is about ~55 at room temperature in vacuum. The dynamical properties clearly indicate that monolayer MoS2 membranes are in the membrane limit (i.e., tension dominated), in contrast to their thicker counterparts, which behave as plates. We also demonstrate clear signatures of nonlinear behaviour of our atomically thin membranes, thus providing a starting point for future investigations on the nonlinear dynamics of monolayer nanomechanical resonators.
We study the quantum dynamics of a symmetric nanomechanical graphene resonator with degenerate flexural modes. Applying voltage pulses to two back gates, flexural vibrations of the membrane can be selectively actuated and manipulated. For graphene, nonlinear response becomes important already for amplitudes comparable to the magnitude of zero point fluctuations. We show, using analytical and numerical methods, that this allows for creation of cat-like superpositions of coherent states as well as superpositions of coherent cat-like non-product states.
Since its discovery, Berry phase has been demonstrated to play an important role in many quantum systems. In gapped Bernal bilayer graphene, the Berry phase can be continuously tuned from zero to 2pi, which offers a unique opportunity to explore the tunable Berry phase on the physical phenomena. Here, we report experimental observation of Berry phases-induced valley splitting and crossing in moveable bilayer graphene p-n junction resonators. In our experiment, the bilayer graphene resonators are generated by combining the electric field of scanning tunneling microscope tip with the gap of bilayer graphene. A perpendicular magnetic field changes the Berry phase of the confined bound states in the resonators from zero to 2pi continuously and leads to the Berry phase difference for the two inequivalent valleys in the bilayer graphene. As a consequence, we observe giant valley splitting and unusual valley crossing of the lowest bound states. Our results indicate that the bilayer graphene resonators can be used to manipulate the valley degree of freedom in valleytronics.